“When I came here I was never going to get too high or too low, just kind of stay the same way throughout my time here and work hard every day,” Lashoff said after the Wings’ morning skate Friday prior to their game against the St. Louis Blues. “It never changes for me, whether it’s a game day, a practice or if I’m playing. Obviously I want to play and show that I can stick, but at the same I’m going to be ready whatever opportunity is given to me.”

Lashoff, who wasn’t drafted, was a healthy scratch for a second straight game, losing his spot in the lineup to Jakub Kindl.

Advertisement

The rookie defenseman was called up from Grand Rapids after a rash of injuries struck the blue line. Kindl missed the start of the season with a groin injury. Two other defensemen – Ian White (leg laceration) and Carlo Colaiacovo (shoulder) – are still out.

The team also had to sign free agent Kent Huskins.

“I knew when I came here it was because of injuries,” Lashoff said. “I saw an opportunity to play as much as I could so I tried to get my foot in the door and let everyone know that I’m ready to play in this league. Whether guys come back from being injured or not, I can’t control that, all I can control is how I play and let that do the talking.”

Lashoff could not have asked for a better start to his NHL career.

He scored a goal in his first game against Columbus and was also out killing a 5-on-3 Blue Jackets man advantage with Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk.

“I was out there for critical situations early on,” Lashoff said. “That kind of gave me a lot of confidence going forward.”

But lately, Lashoff, who has played parts of five minor league seasons with Grand Rapids, wasn’t drafted, has been a space holder for a forward that may be missing at practice.

“It’s definitely been surreal,” Lashoff said. “When I didn’t get drafted it was a huge blow to me, but at the time I took it as motivation to come into that camp with a chip on my shoulder. And for the rest of my career I want to have it in the back of my head that I wasn’t drafted. That I’m here right now is good, but it’s just the start of it. I have to keep working hard just like I did when I didn’t get drafted.”

White eyes return Tuesday

White took part in the optional practice and said he’ll be ready to play Tuesday against the Calgary Flames.

“I was actually hoping to play today because I was skating for a few days now; I felt fine skating but then the doctor explained if you fall and that leg jackknifes or whatever then it’ll blow everything up in there,” White added. “I’m aiming for Tuesday, we’ll see. It gets a little bit better every day and hopefully I’ll be back then.”

Wings coach Mike Babcock will wait and see as well.

“He said he’s going to go on Tuesday, I said we’ll see after practice and decide if he’s going on Tuesday,” Babcock said.

White still has stitches in his leg.

“We’ve got to keep the stitches in there as long as possible because once you start going like that, you know it would rip open if they weren’t there,” White said.

Rest of the walking wounded

Mikael Samuelsson (groin) is getting closer to returning to the ice.

“It’s in a matter of a couple of days I’ll start skating,” Samuelsson said. “We were more cautious than we’ve been in the past. I thought I was good to go in training camp, I pulled it a little bit and this time I didn’t really pull it but it was still sore. I’m being cautious about it so it doesn’t happen again.”

Babcock didn’t seem like backup goalie Jonas Gustavsson (groin) is close to returning.

“With the goaltender there doesn’t seem to be any light here at the end of the tunnel,” Babcock said. “As a goalie if you haven’t played and you have to win every night how can you put that guy in? Howie can’t play every night, like eventually you have to have someone play.”

The Wings have yet to get a goal from one of their bottom six forwards.

“Good way to fix it is put (Darren) Helm in the mix and he’ll fix that in a hurry,” Babcock said. “In the meantime, just keep grinding and don’t give anything up. If you’re not getting anything don’t give anything up.”

Send comments to chuck.pleiness@macombdaily.com, follow him on twitter @redwingsfront and visit his blog at redwingsfront.wordpress.com